Zikalala: Attacks on Zuma an attempt to undermine ANC
Pietermaritzburg – The newly elected leadership in KwaZulu-Natal said any attack on President Jacob Zuma was an attempt to undermine the ANC.
This after Zuma broke his silence about rumours that he was a liability to the party.
Delivering his keynote address at the 8 Provincial Conference in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday night, Zuma told delegates that he had heard that people were saying he was a liability and that he should leave.
"How can a member of the ANC be referred to as a liability... No member can be a liability."
A clearly irritated Zuma also took a shot at former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe who spoke out about the party and the alliance.
"I will be a member of the ANC until I die... I am not going to out there and criticise the party like others," Zuma said.
During his closing remarks newly elected KZN ANC chairperson Sihle Zikalala said, “Those who attack the president do so only to weaken the ANC and to ensure that the ANC loses its integrity in society and that cannot go unchallenged.
“The march by the Women’s League must be emulated by all of us. We are very pleased with President Jacob Zuma and there is no member who can be considered a liability,” said Zikalala adding that others had become personal.
“These people [who attack the president] are doing so with the intention of undermining the integrity and try to legitimise the ANC from society.
“And we are saying that that can’t go unchallenged. As the ANC in the province we are fully behind the ANC, in particular his leading the country and the manner he is leading the ANC.”
On Zuma’s comments referring to Motlanthe, Zikalala said, “We share the same views with him.”
Zikalala said members in the ANC were allowed to express their views, however, in the ANC.
“If you are a member of the ANC you have a platform, go to the ANC and raise your issues and avoid attacking the organisation in the media. The first national general council in 2000 emphasised that members of the ANC must raise matters inside the organisation instead of other platforms,” said Zikalala.